Comelec open on Sundays for voter registration

Comelec office. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The local offices of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will be open even on Sundays to accommodate voters who will register for the 2016 polls, according to Comelec spokesman James Jimenez.

The voters’ registration is set from May 6, 2014, to Oct. 31, 2015.

The Comelec said this includes new registrations, transfers, reactivation and validation.

In a previous interview, Commissioner Grace Padaca said the idea to hold registration even on Sundays was suggested by Comelec personnel on the field.

“Based on the feedback we got, more people go out on Sundays to go to the market or to the church. It may also be an opportunity for them to register. We at the Comelec will adjust since it was our personnel on the field who suggested to us that we open on Sundays to accommodate more people,” she said.

The Comelec earlier said that seven to eight million registered voters have no biometrics data out of the more than 52 million registered voters.

The biometrics registration records voters’ digital photographs, signatures and fingerprints.—Tina G. Santos